Blood Dosen't Mean Family
by MyWorldDoesn'tEnd
Summary: Rick never found Lori or Carl or any of the quarry group. Not until many months into the apocalypse once he had already found a way to live without them. When given the chance to be with them again he is sure to make a choice that will change the story.
1. Done For

**Blood Dosn't Mean Family**

Chapter one: Done For

Rick parked the beat up old truck in front of the small pharmacy. He was not alone, in the passenger seat of the truck, was a girl. Her hair was a mess of black curls, her eyes blue and sunken back into her head with exertion. In the back of the truck sat a boy and a man, with dark skin, hair and eyes, a father and son.

"It's empty, we would have better luck looking through houses." The girl muttered, staring blankly out the window at the grey shop front.

"We need to try." Rick said, determination in his voice, but pain in his heart.

"Always the optimist. I'm done for Rick, nothing in there's going to save me." The girl said looking him in the eyes. She held up her arm where a blood-soaked bandage tried to cover a large bite mark in her flesh. She had been attacked by a savage dog four days ago. She could no longer mover her fingers on that arm and her skin was drastically pale from the lack of blood.

"Come on, get out. It won't take long." Rick said, not taking no for an answer. The pair in the back of the truck jumped out to meet Rick by the pharmacy door, already knowing the plan of action. The boy, Duane, would stay outside while his father, Morgan, and Rick cleared inside the building.

"Any trouble, yell out." Morgan told his son.

"I know." Duane said pulling his hand gun from his belt and flicking off the safety. His father nodded in approval before entering the abandoned building after Rick.

The girl, Raven, fell out of the truck, her knees buckling when she hit the ground and it took all the strength she had in her one good arm to pull herself back to her feet.

"You okay?" Duane asked rushing to her aid, wrapping an arm around her to hold her steady.

"God dame amazing." Raven hissed, as Duane helped her sit down on the step of the truck. "We got the attention of the locals by the looks of it." She said, nodding across the road where four of the undead stumbled out of an alley way.

"You got my back?" Duane asked, holding his gun out to her as he pulled a machete from the back of the truck.

"Always." She said, taking the gun in her good hand and aiming it at the head of the closest walker.

"Good." Duane smiled. He walked towards the approaching threat. As soon as the first walker came into reaching distance he swung the machete and brain matter went flying across the foot path as the rotting body fell into the gutter. He swung at the next one and beheaded it.

The first two had been spaced out, making it easy for Duane to peck them off, but the other two were side by side.

"Ray, you ready?" Duane asked, knowing he would not be able to take all two walkers on at once. He got no reply as he slowly stepped back from the approaching walkers, trying to keep a safe distance between him and their snapping jaws. "Ray?" He asked again, still no reply. He looked over his shoulder to see in the short time he had looked away, his friend had passed out and was now out cold on the road. Even worse, there was another group of four walkers coming from the other side of the road.

Duane raced back to his friend's side, rolling her over to see she now had scrap marks along her face, but she looked to be breathing. That's all he needed. He grabbed the gun on the ground that had fallen from Ray's grip.

He fired at the approaching walkers. He wasn't a good shot though and with seven bullets, he only killed three walkers. Lucky the gun had a silencer so he didn't attract more of the undead, but he was still out of bullets and had three more walkers to kill.

"Dad, help!" He was more worried about his friend then his pride and called for his father's help.

"Duane!" Morgan yelled a few moments later as he came barging out of the pharmacy with Rick, hot on his heels. The two older men thought the call of help was because of the surrounding walkers but it wasn't till they got around the other side of the truck, they found Duane next to a passed-out Raven.

Morgan instinctively went to the walkers, stabbing and slicing with his knife till the threat of the undead was gone. While Rick fell to the ground next to Duane, he put his ear down near Ray's mouth and let out a sigh of relief when he heard her breathing.

"What happened?" Rick asked.

"I was taking care of some walkers, when I looked back she was like this." Duane said, the boy was holding onto Raven's hand. If Rick looked a little closer, he would have seen tears in the boy's dark eyes. "How can we help her?"

"Blood loss has set in, she's shutting down Rick." Morgan said. "If we had a doctor we could save her, but were not going to find one of them anywhere."

"There has to be some way we can help her." Duane said, sending a pleading glance towards his father.

"Come on Raven, wake up, wake up." Rick pleaded, shaking the girl's shoulders.

"She infected?" All three heads snap in the direction of the male voice. They saw an Asian man in his early twenties and a woman around the same age with short brown hair. Both new comers were holding guns, but don't raise them.

"No, a dog bit her, not a walker. Can you help?" Duane asked.

"My daddy's a vet, he could help her." The woman said. Hope rose in Duane's eyes.

"Our camp isn't too far from here." The Asian man said.

"Rick, this isn't a good idea. We don't know them." Morgan said quietly.

"If it was Duane would you be saying that?" Rick asked and Morgan was silent. "Exactly. Do you have a vehicle? How far is it?" Rick asked, collecting Raven in his arms and standing.

"No, we walked, it's around ten minutes away." The woman replied.

"Rick, take the truck. Me and Duane will stay here." Morgan said, taking a bag of supplies from the back of the truck and tossing it over his shoulder.

"I can drive if you want? Glenn's got to get some things for one of our group, so he can show you guys back to the farm when you're ready." The woman said.

"Thank you." Rick said climbing into the truck, Raven quickly slipping away in his arms. Morgan wasn't sure about these people. Truthfully, neither was Rick, but he had been praying for a miracle and here one was. He had already lost so much in this new world. If he lost Raven, he had no idea how he could keep going.

"My names Maggie by the way." The woman said, as she climbed into the truck and started the engine.

"Rick. This is Raven." he said, looking down at the girl's pale face. Maggie drove fast, quickly through the town, the people left behind them all faded away in the rear view mirror.

 _AN:_

 _Thoughts?_

 _Please let me know what you though of the fist chapter of this story. I've been working on this idea for a while now so hope you do like it and continue to read. There will be a few flash backs latter on to show more of the back story but for the first few chapters they all take place roughly seven months after Rick woke up in hospital._

 _Hope you had a good day/ night. Thanks for reading._


	2. His Girl

Blood Dosn't Mean Family

Chapter two: His girl

Maggie pulled the truck to a grinding halt in front of an old farm house.

"Daddy, get your bag we need help!" Maggie yelled, jumping out of the truck and rushing around the other side of the truck to open the door for Rick. Rick was sure the girl had stopped breathing a few moments ago, her lips were turning blue.

"Is Glenn hurt?" Rick heard a woman's voice call out from the farm house porch.

"No, we found a man and his girls injured. It looks like she stopped breathing!" Maggie yelled, as Rick got out of the truck and a group of people flooded from the house.

"Hurry, bring her inside." A man in his later years of life with white hair and overalls called from the door way. Rick didn't have to be asked twice. He didn't take notice of the people who had exited the house, all that mattered to him in this moment was Raven.

"What happened to her?" The older man asked, as Rick followed him into a downstairs bedroom. "Put her down on the bed."

"She- she was bit by a dog a few days age. It's infected, we-we couldn't find antibiotics. Can you help her" Rick asked, as the older man looked over Raven.

"I'm going to try, but I need you to get out of the way. Patricia, I need you in here!" The older man began to do compressions on Ravens chest. The bite wasn't his worry at the moment, he needed the girl to start breathing first.

A blond woman in her forties rushed into the room and began to talk with the older man about what he needed her to do. Rick was in shock and he stumbled back a few steps as a few more women rushed into the room offering help and asking what they could do.

A hand touched Rick's shoulder. "I think it's best if you step outside for a minute, Rick." Maggie said softly. "Your daughter is in good hands now."

"I need to see her breath." He whispered. Maggie didn't push him. The man had tears in his eyes and a look of desperation on his face. He had since she first saw him. So, they waited and watched.

The older man continued doing CPR on the girl as the woman named Patricia and a woman with short grey hair unwrap the bloody bandage on Raven's arm. A young blond girl was also in the room, opening a box of medical supplies and taking out equipment.

"Oh, God..." the grey haired woman gasped as the wound was exposed.

"She not infected, it was a dog bite." Rick said again, he had to make sure they understood that.

"What blood type is she?" Patricia asked. To get through this Raven would need more blood and fast.

"I don't know," Rick murmured, "I don't know."

"Beth, go get Morales, he's O blood." The older man said and the young blonde raced out of the room.

Several minutes had passed before the older man stepped back from the bed. Rick was about to fall to his knees, as it looked as though the old man had given up; but no, Raven was breathing again. Rick could see her chest rising and falling.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Rick said.

"Don't thank me yet." The older man said, finally getting a good look at the girl's injury. Rick finally left the room with Maggie following closely behind.

"He's going to do everything he can, Rick." she promised.

Rick dropped down onto a lounge, letting his head fall into his hands. Maggie sat down beside him.

Time passed and they could hear conversations in the other room. That was all Rick could focus on, he wanted to know everything that was happening to his girl. He couldn't lose her, he would have already lost her if it wasn't for these people. He owed them Raven's life... for now at least.

Rick heard someone enter the room, then a woman's gasp.

"Lori are you okay?" Maggie asked standing up. Ricks eyes moved to look at the new woman and he could swear his heart fell from his chest. Before him stood not only a woman in her thirties with long brown hair, but the woman that used to be his wife.

"Rick?" the woman, Lori, asked with a shaky voice. Maggie stalled and looked between the two people in the room.

"You know each other?" Maggie asked.

"She-she... was... my wife, before." Rick said, as he looked over the woman who was his wife, a long time ago. It looked like she now belonged to someone else, her rounded pregnant stomach sticking out a little from under her red shirt.

The blonde girl, Beth, came rushing back into the house dragging a Hispanic male behind her. "In here, come on, hurry up."

A tall man with curly black hair and an old man in a bucket hat entered the house a few seconds later.

"They know what happens, we can't trust- Rick?" The man with the back curly hair asked, as he stopped his rant to the older man.

"Shane?" Rick was sure he had lost his mind.

"You... you're alive?" Shane asked, his head swaying a bit.

"Could ask you that's same thing." Rick said.

"How? How is this possible?" Lori asked, "You said he was dead." She said to Shane.

"He was... you were..." Shane was lost for words. Everyone was lost for words.

"Your daughter is awake and asking for you." Beth said to Rick from the bedroom door.

"Daughter?" Lori asked looking at Rick confused, her mouth hanging open.

"Yeah, I think we all have some questions." Rick said, before going to the bedroom.

"You look terrible." Raven said, as her eyes landed on Rick. He mustered a smile.

"Speak for yourself." He replied. "What are you doing to her?" Rick asked, as the old man wrapped a cured tightly around Ravens mid arm. Patricia was searching for a vain on Ravens none injured arm. The Hispanic man Beth had dragged into the room a few minutes ago already had a needle in his arm and his blood was slowly filling a long plastic tube.

"The arm is rotting; blood poisoning is spreading through her. It's already lost all circulation; the limb is dead. We cut it off and she could live." The old man explained as he pulled a blade from his med kit.

"Don't worry, I can still kick your ass one handed." Raven smiled before her eyes fell shut. She didn't want to see what was going to happen next, and neither did Rick; but no way was he leaving her alone for this.

Raven was asleep. Rick didn't leave her side during the operation. Maggie's father, Hershel, Rick learnt his name was, didn't expect Raven to pull through; but she was strong and even though she was now missing half her left arm and passed out from the pain, Rick know she would keep fighting.

He owed Morales a lot too, as he had donated his blood. Without him, Raven wouldn't have been able to make enough blood. It had been hours since her arm was removed and Hershel had only just given Morales the all clear to leave, saying Raven looked to be making enough blood on her own now. Her arm had barely bleed when removed. Rick was shocked, but knew it was the right thing to do.

"Who is she?" Rick looked over to the door way to see Lori, watching him with a confused expression.

"Her name's Raven. Found her a few days after I woke up in the hospital. She was alone, I saved her." Rick explained looking back at the girl.

"Oh... I really did think you were dead, Rick. If I had though for just a second you were alive I would have-"

"I thought you were dead too, after I saw Atlanta I was sure no one would have made it out of that alive." Rick sighed, as Lori walked over to stand by his chair.

"We never made it into Atlanta, traffic was too bad. For a while we camped beside the city near a quarry, but then some people we were with stole our supplies and the dead started leaving the city. It was horrible." Lori frowned at the sleeping girl. "I told Carl you were alive, here, he wants to see you but... I said I didn't want him in here near her. I think it would be too much for him to see another child like that."

"I um... I don't think I'm ready to see him yet." Rick said, running a hand though his shaggy hair.

"What? Haven't you missed him?" Lori asked.

"Of course, I missed him, but I thought he was dead. Just trying to get my head around the fact that he's alive, that your alive. It's a lot to take in." Rick hissed.

"I'm sorry, I know this is hard. I can't believe you're here either. I'll um... I'll tell Carl you'll see him at dinner later."

"Can you just tell me one thing before you leave?" Rick asked, after hesitating for a moment.

"Sure." Lori said, stopping on her way to the door.

"Is the baby Shane's?"

"Rick, we thought you were dead." She waited a few minutes for Rick to respond, but he said nothing and eventually she left without saying anything else.

 _AN:_

 _Ok so Rick sees Raven as an adopted daughter she was like a replacement for the family she thought he had lost. Rick will be paired up with someone down the track as will as Raven but for now this story is about Rick seeing what really matters about the end of the world. Rick may seem a bit OC but please remember there has been a time skip and this Rick would be acting a lot like the Rick between season 2-3 while on the road before finding the prison._

 _please leave a review_

 _happy to answer any questions_

 _Thanks for reading hope you have a good night/ Day!_


	3. Old friend

Blood Dosn't Mean Family

Chapter three: Old friend 

Shane shuffled his feet in the door way, not sure how to approach his old friend.

"How long are you going to stand there?" Rick asked. He could feel the other man's eyes burning holes in the back of his head for the last five minutes.

"Maggie said there were other people with you, a man and a boy." Shane said, cutting straight to the chase.

"Yeah, Morgan and his son Duane." Rick elaborated.

"We don't normally let people in. We had to learn the hard way not to trust people." Shane said.

"There are definitely some bad people out there theses days... Without Morgan, I would have died as soon as I got out of that hospital. He helped me learn what had to happen to stay alive." Rick turned to look at Shane.

"I still have some questions, so we'll need to ask them before they can stay here." Shane said, his eyes drifted past Rick to the girl on the bed. "Hershel said she's doing well."

"Hopefully she'll wake up soon. I'll feel a lot better when she wakes up." Rick said, eyes going back to the girl on the bed. "Once Raven is awake we'll be out of here, so you don't have to worry too much about your questions."

"You're just going to leave?" Shane asked, eyebrows raising in surprise.

"Yeah..." Rick said.

"So, you're just going to leave them? You know how much people would give to have there family back and your just-" Shane's voice rose a few notches. He cut himself off with a shake of his head as his eyes burned angry whole in the back of Ricks head.

"I guess I am," Rick nodded, "Maybe it would have been better if I had stayed dead."

"Yeah, probably would have." Shane hissed, marching his way out of the room.

It was starting to get dark by the time Glenn arrived at the farm house with Morgan and Duane in tow. The sun had set beyond the tree line and the last rays of light made the few clouds in the sky look orange.

Maggie met the three men on the front porch. She smiled warmly and led the new arrivals to the room where Rick and Raven were.

"How is she?" Duane asked, rushing to stand by Rick. He sighed in relief as he saw Raven still breathing, more colour in her face than there had be earlier in the day.

"She's out of the woods for now, she just has to wake up. The arm had to be removed though." A look of horror flashed across Duane's face. Rick didn't miss it as the boy looked from the hand Rick held to the stump on the other side of Raven.

"She's strong, she'll work it out." Morgan said from the door way. "She's very lucky to be alive, that's what she'll be thinking when she wakes up. She won't care about the arm."

"I know, I just keep thinking about what could've happened." Rick sighed standing up from the chair. "Why don't you take my place for a while Duane. I need to talk to your father for a minute."

"I'll yell out if she wakes up." Duane said, taking Rick's seat and grabbing Ravens hand, letting her know she wasn't alone.

There were a few people in the living room. Rick felt their eyes on him as soon as he stepped out of the room. He avoided eye contact and went straight out the front door, Morgan following him.

"You were right. When you said if it was Duane that needed the help, I would have done anything, even trusted a stranger's word. Sometimes I forget how much she means to you, she's not just some random kid you found." Morgan said, once Rick had stopped walking.

"Don't worry about it."

"I still remember that night you showed up with her." Morgan said with a shake of his head.

"You almost shot me." Rick couldn't help but laugh at the memory.

...

It was an hour after sun set. The street lights were on and lighting up the neighbourhood. The street was crawling with the undead. Rick scurried along the shadows, pulling Raven along behind him. He was scared to loosen his grip on her; worried she may run from him... again.

There were a few dead bodies scattered on the street. Morgan must have been practicing his shooting earlier in the day after he and Rick had gone their separate ways. It looked as though he had woken up most the town, drawing the dead in with the gun shots.

The front yard of the house Rick had spent last night in with Morgan and his son, was now filled with walkers. A few were scratching at the door and windows, but the rest look like they had wondered up the steps and couldn't find their way down.

Rick pulled the girl into a neighbouring house's garden and into the back yard. It was quieter there than it had been on the street, less growling. Rick jumped the mesh fence that separated the two houses and then helped the girl over. The back of the house was as dark as the front, windows all covered up.

It was quieter back here, the only sounds of the dead coming from the front of the house. Rick found the back door and he tried the handle. It wasn't locked, but there was something pushing against the other side of it. He gave it a strong push and then the bang of a gunshot filled the air and the right corner of the wood door exploded into splinters.

Raven let out a surprised scream.

"Fuck! Morgan, it's me!" Rick yelled, jumping back from the door. Raven hid behind him for protection, cling to him now. The door was kicked open with a loud creak.

"Rick?" Morgan asked, lowering the gun. "What happened? Why are you..." Morgan looked behind the man as head heard a noise. He jumped and raised his gun once more. The girl was covered in blood and grime. "Infected!" he thought, "Infected!nGet it away." He all but yelled.

"It's not her blood, Morgan. Put the gun down." Rick said, raising his hands as a sign of peace. "I found her alone. She's not infected, please put the gun down Morgan." Rick stayed calm.

"You sure she's not bit? Scratched? Anything?" Morgan's eyes were wide and shifted back and forth between the two people in front of him. It appeared Rick had missed a lot in the short time he had been gone.

"I swear she's fine." Rick hissed, as a walker stumbled its way around the side of the house.

"There's a car parked the next block over. Duane's already there, but I had to back for a few things." Morgan said quickly, as he swung a heavy looking bag over his shoulder.

The three of them ran to the back fence as more walkers stumbled into the back yard. Rick threw Raven over first, as Morgan pushed his bag over the high fence.

The two men hoisted themselves over the fence and into another back yard. Morgan grabbed his bag and Rick grabbed Raven's arm. Morgan couldn't help but pause for a moment. The undead started pushing up against the fence.

"If she turns Rick-" Morgan began, but Rick shut him off.

"Then I'll deal with it, she's my responsibility." Rick growled. He knew she wasn't bit, but he didn't have time to convince Morgan. Raven looked between the two men and then at the shaking fence. She pulled on Rocks arm, fighting for his attention as he glared at Morgan.

"Ok." Morgan nodded. The three took off running into the dark.

...

"Dinners ready!" Maggie called from the front door.

"We'll be in in a second!" Rick called out and Maggie nodded going back into the house.

"She was always more than just your responsibility Rick. She's your family." Morgan gave Rick a pat on the back.

"We're all family Morgan."

 _AN: Not a very interesting chapter but I hope the next one will make up for that._

 _please leave a review_

 _happy to answer any questions_

 _Thanks for reading hope you have a good night/ Day!_


	4. Choses

Blood Dosn't Mean Family

Chapter Four: Choses

When they entered the house a woman met them by the kitchen door with two plates of food. She interested herself as Carol and the two man thanked her for the food. It had been a while since either of them had eaten anything that wasn't from a can.

Morgan walked into the room first and Rick followed after him paying a bit more attention to his food then he was his surroundings. Tables of all shapes and sizes had been pulled together in order to make enough room for everyone to sit down. It was only when someone ran into Rick that he looked away from his plate and down to the boy who had wrapped his arms around him.

The room was quite, Rick didn't know if their was anyone talking before hand but there definitely wasn't anyone talking now. All eyes were on Rick and the boy.

"Carl," Rick said quietly under his breath.

"Dad," the boy sobbed into Ricks side. Rick drew in a shaky breath as he placed his plate down on the table and dropped down to his sons level. He saw the boys face for a brief moment and smiled. "Look how big you've gotten," Rick said hugging his son back, tightly as possible.

After several long minutes passed Carl pulled away from his father. Morgan gave the pair a odd look and Rick mouthed 'Latter'. Morgan nodded his head, understanding there was a story to hear.

...

Raven POV

"Its really gone," she whispered looking at her arm, or at least at the spot her arm should be. Duane's head shot up at the sound of her voice. He had been resting his eyes, leaning his head on the soft bed.

"I'm sorry," Duane said and Raven chuckled dryly.

"Why are you saying sorry?" She asked.

"I don't know," he said after a moment.

"Where are we?" Raven looked around the room.

"A farm. When you collapsed some people found us, they brought you here. Their doctor saved you," Duane explained.

"Where's Rick?" She asked.

"He's out with dad," Duane said looking at the doorway they had left through.

"Help me up, I want to see him." Raven sat up. She was bitting her lip in pain but Duane didn't try and stop her. She hocked her remaining arm over Duane's shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her waste.

They moved slowly across the hall and into the living room. The house was very quiet as the pair pursed in the middle of the room. It looked like there was a lot of people in the room next door but they looked frozen. Both kids shared a confused look.

Raven moved closer and Duane moved with her until he could see what everyone was staring at. Raven was lost for words. Rick was kneeling on the floor a crying boy wrapped in his arms. A few moments passed and then people started to move around once more. Hershel saw the two children standing still frozen in the door way.

"You shouldn't be out of bed young lady," Hershel said moving towards them. A few other heads turned to look at them. Morgan pushed through the crowd of slow moving people.

"Come on you two," Morgan said putting a hand on his sons shoulder and turning the two back towards the bed room.

"Carol can you please fix two more plates, please," Morgan heard Hershel ask as they walked away.

"How are you feeling?" Morgan asked Raven as she sat back on the bed.

"Who was he? The boy, who was he?" Raven asked her eyes were full with confusion and a little bit of jealousy.

"I'm not sure," Morgan said sitting down on the chair.

"He was hugging him, why would he huge him?" Raven asked. Morgan opened his mouth to repeat his answer again but Rick's arrival cut him off.

"He's my son," Rick answered.

"Your son," Raven whispered.

"Yeah my wife's here to, they apparently didn't go to Atlanta, they found a camp then eventually found this place," Rick continued.

"So you're staying here?" Raven asked. Morgan grabbed Duane and left the room.

"No, not endless you want too," Rick said, kneeling down in front of Raven.

"Rick you can't ask me to do that. I can't take you away from them, and I... Rick I don't want to stay here. Duane said it's a farm, farms don't have walls. They could just walk in and..." Raven looked away from him.

"Then we'll leave," Rick said.

"Your family, you can't leave them, not for me."

"They're not my family any more Raven, just people I use to know. You Raven, you are my family."

"Blood means something Rick, I'm not your blood," Raven whispered in a rough voice.

"Blood doesn't mean family Raven, not in this new world," Rick said running a finger over Raven's cheek to brush away some of the tears.

"Rick-" Raven pushed away his hand but Rick cut her off.

"I'm not gonna hear it. You and me, we're family. As soon as you're better we leave," Rick said sternly.

"Dad," came a soft whisper from the door way. Rick and Raven's eyes both snapped to the door way to see Carl, his eyes wide and mouth hanging open in shock. Behind him stood Lori wearing a similar expression to her son.

"Sorry we... Carl uh... come on," Lori stumbled with her words before grabbing her sons arm and dragging him away from the door way.

"Go away," Raven hissed at Rick.

"No I'll find them latter," Rick said turning back to Raven.

"No, go away, now," Ravens voice was rough as she swallowed back her emotions.

"Raven-"

"Leave," she all but yelled. Rick signed as he stood, there was no use fighting with her right now, she needed time. He left the room. Raven pulled the covers up around herself with her remaining hand and curled up into a ball, clinging to her injured arm she fell asleep with tears in her eyes.

She was not upset about losing her arm, she was upset about losing the closest thing she ever had to a father. She know in the end he would choose blood over her.


	5. Lost

Blood Dosn't Mean Family

Chapter Five: Lost

"I can't find him anywhere Shane," Lori cried.

"He couldn't have gone far, he's probably just playing with Sophia," Shane said trying to calm Lori down.

"He's not, Sophia's in the RV, she says she hasn't seen him all day. I asked everyone. No ones seen him!" It was mid morning. Carl wasn't in his bed when Lori had waken up and he had failed to show up for breakfast. This was not normal behaviour.

"He couldn't have gone to far," Shane said holding his hands up in a calming motion. Lori was furious and slapped Shane across the face before she left the house.

"The boy's missing?" Morgan asked from the hallway doorway.

"He'll show up," Shane growled.

"I'll get Rick, we'll help you guys look for him," Morgan offered.

"I think you two have helped enough," Shane said marching after Lori.

Morgan went back to the room Hershel was letting them stay in. Duane was still asleep on the floor curled up amongst some blankets. Rick had fallen asleep on the chair next to Raven's bed. Raven was fast asleep, Hershel had checked on her early this morning and said she would probably sleep most of the day from the pain medication he gave her yesterday. Morgan snuck past his son and shook Rick's shoulder.

"Morgan? What's wrong?" Rick asked as his eyes flow open.

"It seems Carl is MIA," Morgan whispered. Rick looked at Raven for a moment before shaking his head.

"I'm going to be here when she wakes up. He's probably just hiding somewhere, trying to proses everything," Rick justified. "I'm sure he'll show up sooner or later."

...

"Has she shown any signs of waking up?" Hershel asked entering the downstairs bedroom of his home. Morgan and Duane were out of the room getting lunch.

"No," Rick said, concerned.

"That's normal, she's gone through a lot, her body is progressing all the trauma," Hershel said, lifting Raven's bandaged arm up to inspect the bandage closer.

"How long until you think she will be fit to travel?" Rick asked.

"At least a week, preferably two," Hershel said checking Ravens pulse.

"Okay, thank you for your hospitality. I appreciate all you've done for us," Rick said sincerely.

"Can I ask you something Rick," Hershel said stepping back from the bed.

"Of course."

"How bad is it out there?" The old man asked. Rick was quite for a few minutes thinking over is answer.

"Just be grateful for what you have here. Out there it's a blood bath, you definitely don't want your family out there."

"But your willing to take this girl back out there into that?"

"She can handle it."

"She's a child."

"There are no children left in this world, not out there. It's eat, or be eaten."

...

Rick stayed in his chair all day not wanting to miss the moment Raven opened her eyes. It was late afternoon when he saw her start moving. Her eyes opened one by one and rolled around in their sockets for a few minutes before they locked on Rick.

"How long was I asleep?" Raven asked in a horse voice.

"Almost a day. The pain relief medication your on made your body rest," Rick explained.

"It didn't get rid of the pain," Raven grumbled sitting up in bed. "I need water."

"I'll be right back," Rick said before leaving the room. He though the house was empty, it was quite and he heard a few people had left to look for Carl after lunch. Even Morgan had volunteered to help look, dragging Duane along with him to help. Rick was wrong tho. He found Lori with her head down on the dinning room table.

"They haven't found him yet?" Rick asked as he went to the sink to fill a glass.

"Don't act like you care," Lori said lifting her head to glare at Rick, her eyes were red and watery. "You're the reason he's missing."

"How?" Rick asked confused.

"You acted like he meant nothing to you, Rick he's still your son."

"I thought it would be easier if I didn't get to involved. We're not staying. If..."

"If what? If you told him you loved him, if you said you missed him and you acted like you were happy to see him that would change your plans?"

"I know it would. I didn't ask for this Lori. I thought you were dead, I moved on, so did you. Don't make me the bad guy in this." Rick held the glass of water so tightly his hand was shaking.

"Rick..." Lori signed, she opens her mouth to say more but a gunshot cut her off. The glass fell from Ricks hand as he ran out of the room.

"Stay there!" He yelled at Lori on his way out of the room. The shot had come from inside the house. He ran into the spare room where Raven had been to find Raven with a gun in her hand aimed at Carl who stood three steps away from her. He was wide eyed and shaking. The window behind him had a broken penal from where the bullet went through it.

"It's not what it looks like," Raven said, her eyes pleading with Rick. Movement outside caught Rick's attention tho. There was a dead body on the front lawn, a walker with a bullet whole through it's brain. It hadn't been alone, there were more walkers slowly stumbling around the house.

"We got to go. Now!" Rick said. "Carl go to your mother in the kitchen. Raven check no one is upstairs." Rick was out of the room before either kid could move. He ran for the front door pulling it open to see what they were up against. There was only a dozen or so walkers within shooting distance but Rick could see more coming from the surrounding trees, to many. It was a horde. Rick could hear yelling and looked to the barn to see someone in the barn. Rick pulled out his knife and marched to the closest walker stabbing it through the eye. He did the same for the next two as well moving his way to the RV and small group of tents fifty feet from the house. A few of the walkers followed him leaving the house alone for now.

"Start the RV, get to the others in the barn!" He yelled to the people hiding in the RV. He could see them peeking through the windows at him and the walkers. He hoped they could hear him and would listen. He took out another two walkers before reaching the RV. He tried opening the door but it was locked. "You need to move! There's more coming, they'll rip this place apart. Get to the barn, get those people and get out of here. Go to the highway."

He could hear someone moving around in the RV as his attention was dragged back to the farm house. Morgan was standing in the door frame trying to catch his breath as he waved to Rick.

"We got to go now. This ones huge, they're everywhere in the woods!" Morgan said as Rick jogged back to the house. The RV roared to life as Rick reached the house, he saw a grey haired women driving it in the direction of the barn.

"We'll have to go out the back," Rick said pushing Morgan into the house and shutting the door behind them. More walkers were staring to reach the house, to many to fight. Rick went straight to the kitchen with Morgan less then a step behind him. There were several people in the kitchen now, Duane, Maggie and Glenn had been out in the woods with Morgan helping look for Carl. Now they were getting the cars ready and killing the few walkers who made it around the back of the house. Raven, Carl, Lori, and Beth were still in the kitchen grabbing anything they could and putting it into a few bags.

"That's enough let's go," Rick said grabbing the bag Raven had been filling and pushed her towards the back door.

"Do you know where my dad is?" Beth asked. Raven had found her upstairs in her bedroom.

"He's at the barn," Rick said thinking of the person her had seen a few minutes ago he released it was Hershel.

"We have to get him," Beth said.

"We will just get in the car," Raven said grabbing Beth with her remaining hand and pulling the blonde girl out of the house.

"Shane's still out there," Lori said as she left the house carrying a bag and holding onto Carl's hand.

"He went west with a few others they should be out of the hoards way," Morgan said leaving the house last. There were two cars waiting for them. One Glenn and Maggie were already in with the engine running, Lori and Carl both climbed into the back seats. Raven pushed Beth into the car with her older sister and shut the door behind her. Raven tapped the side of the car twice and it took off. Duane had been holding back the walkers who had been slowly coming around the corner.

Raven yelled out to him to hurry up as she climbed into their truck finding it a bit difficult with only one arm but she managed. Morgan throw a bag of supplies into the back of the truck before jumping in himself as his son got into the cab of the truck. Rick jumped behind the wheel and started the truck. When he pulled out from behind the house he saw the front lawn was now covered in walkers. They looked like they moved slowly when alone but in such a big group they seemed to move faster.

The RV was now driving quickly up the driveway towards the highway. There was no one standing by the barn anymore and a few horses were now running free so Rick assumed the RV had picked the people up on their way past. He looked back in the mirror as the followed the other car and RV up the driveway. Walkers were still spilling from the forest, some were banging on the front of the house, a group was going in the direction of the horses, and others were following after them.

He didn't know what was going to happen next but he know no one was returning to that farm again. It was lost.

AN:

Thank you for reading and reviewing. Sorry it took so long to update inspiration hit me today and I wrote 90% of that today. I wasn't sure how I wanted to get them off the farm. First I thought about Rick, Morgan, Duane and Raven all leaving in the dead of night but then I didn't like the idea of running away from a place that didn't seem bad. But I chose to go this way to hopefully have a bit more of a story line then only four people to work with now I had a whole group.

Just responding to a review question "why is Rick so cold to his family?" I hope what he said this chapter helped a bit, he just didn't want to get to attached to them as he was playing to leave and knew if he got to attached he would have to stay, also a lot of shock. And "did The Dixon's rob the camp?" Yes they did and there will surly be more on that latter I love Merle and Daryl and they will be showing up latter in the book no idea when.

Also just touching on what happened between Raven and Carl while Rick was talking to Lori. It will be shown in a flashback latter on so don't worry it won't go untold I just didn't think it fitted into this chapter well.

Please review and follow to help me get inspired and post sooner, thanks for reading.


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